NIT Roundup

Ten years after Princeton nearly shocked Georgetown in the NCAA tournament, the Tigers finally beat the Hoyas in postseason play. And this time, it was no surprise.

Mason Rocca, a junior making his first career start, grabbed 18 rebounds and Brian Earl scored 18 points as Princeton defeated Georgetown 54-47 Wednesday night in the opening round of the NIT.

"I knew I was starting 30 seconds before the game," said Rocca, whose rebounding total was the most by a Princeton player since Bill Bradley had 21 against Columbia in 1965. "They're so tall, you have to keep battling in there and you always have to make sure you have a body on someone."

In 1989, 16th-seeded Princeton almost pulled off the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history before losing to top-seeded Georgetown by one point. This time, the Tigers (21-7) were actually favored over the visiting Hoyas (15-16), who finished with their first losing record since 1973.

All five Princeton starters played the entire game, while Georgetown substituted freely and used 11 players. But Princeton coach Bill Carmody said the regularly scheduled TV timeouts helped keep his team fresh.

"I didn't go in thinking about playing the starters all game," Carmody said. "But you get 2-minute breaks every four minutes, so nobody should really get tired."

The second-round matchups are Rutgers-Clemson, Old Dominion-Butler, Xavier-Wake Forest, NC State-Princeton, California-DePaul, Colorado-Colorado State, Nebraska-TCU, and Wyoming-Oregon. The games will be played next Monday and Tuesday.

Xavier 86, Toledo 84

James Posey scored 20 points, including a key 3-pointer down the stretch, as Xavier won at Toledo.

Rutgers 58, Hofstra 45

Geoff Billet hit two key 3-pointers in a big second-half that helped Rutgers win at home.

John Sivesind scored 16 points and Ceedric Goodwyn added 15 as Colorado State won at home.

TCU 72, Kansas St. 71

Lee Nailon scored 16 of his 22 points in the first half as TCU won at Kansas State.

Wyoming 81, Southern California 77

Ugo Udezue scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half as Wyoming erased a 13-point deficit at Laramie, Wyo.

DePaul 69, Northwestern 64

Freshman Quentin Richardson had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead DePaul over Chicago-area rival Northwestern.

Butler 51, Bradley 50

LaVall Jordan's basket in the closing seconds gave Butler the victory at Bradley.

California 79, Fresno St. 71

Sean Lampley scored a career-high 28 points and Cal overcame a 13-point deficit in the final 15 minutes to beat visiting Fresno State.

Oregon 67, Georgia Tech 64

A.D. Smith's two free throws with 1:19 left gave Oregon the lead for good and the Ducks won their first postseason game since 1988. Alvin Jones led visiting Georgia Tech with 27 points and 11 rebounds.